Stephen Hunt, Managing Director (Australia and New Zealand) at TubeMogul, discusses regional online video trends, and why Australia is a big growth market in APAC.

Can you give some insight into the role played by TubeMogul in APAC? How do you work with agencies/marketers? How do you position your solution?

At TubeMogul, we strive to be thought leaders in programmatic branding for our clients and the industry as a whole. We were the first buying platform for video to launch in the region and now power every agency group in at least one of the 14 markets we service, with many exclusive relationships that span the entire region. The adoption of our approach has been universal and we remain the only buying technology focused purely on demand.

There are a number of ways agencies and marketers can work with us. We are able to provide clients with a managed media solution, where we take care of all their needs. Alternatively, our partners can take the reigns and learn to operate our platform themselves, giving them complete control over their campaigns and ROI. We spend a great deal of time not only improving our offering, but learning more about the industry and the top priorities for marketers to come up with new and innovative ways of doing business. Our goal is to make video simple, effective and accountable.

What's the difference between programmatic and RTB? People often confuse the two, how does TubeMogul utilise these buying methods?

At a basic level, programmatic simply means using technology instead of people. In practice, this encompasses two main concepts: buying digital ad impressions via a real-time auction (RTB) or buying digital ad impressions via automated mechanisms. RTB is really a subset of programmatic buying. At TubeMogul, we use real-time bidding to access video ad impressions and programmatic buying to help advertisers achieve their branding objectives.

Where is much of the inventory coming from in the region? Is it all YouTube inventory? Or are we seeing more premium media properties looking to sell in this way?

It's different for every region. In Australia and New Zealand, the local (mostly premium) publishers have rallied around video and built out strong audiences around their content. Almost all have overcome the technical hurdles of trading programmatically and are now reaping the rewards. YouTube is almost always a big part of the equation, although in some countries, like Thailand and China, audiences are not as concerned with it. TubeMogul is a great partner of YouTube and we tend not to think of it as one site, but rather a common architecture for thousands of individual content owners. In our system, you could target YouTube/NBA for basketball content, or YouTube/Discovery if you are looking for documentaries. Since TubeMogul can also connect to any other supply source, we offer advertisers a powerful platform to advertise across similar content, whether it be hosted on YouTube or elsewhere, making us a one-stop shop for brand marketers.

What key trends are you seeing from the big markets like Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan?

Australia has somehow leapt ahead of most of the world, evolving into a market that is quickly becoming completely programmatic. The conversation has now shifted to audience measurement and understanding how the various offline channels integrate with online video. Most of our clients are using our tools to measure the effectiveness and reach of their TV buy, as well as their online video, which allows them to build compelling arguments to invest more heavily in online video. Southeast Asia and Japan are still in the development phase, as publishers adopt enabling technologies and buyers transition their teams to using buying platforms instead of excel sheets. The adoption in Australia was surprisingly fast and I'd predict that many of the other Asian markets will adopt programmatic at an even faster rate, with Australia as a good lead for them to follow.

What is the role of programmatic video in the APAC region? How does it differ from non-programmatic buys?

Programmatic video is revolutionising brand marketing. It's becoming clear that all advertising will one day be bought and sold programmatically as technologies pervade the marketing ecosystem. Video in particular is the white knight for brand marketers, who are finding it harder and harder to reach audiences at scale with their TV buy. Think about how many ads you used to sit through while watching TV, compared to today when you can skip them or watch more tailored programming on your iPad. We're just starting the viewability conversation in online video, but just think about all those times you hit mute or went to the bathroom or made a cup of tea when the ads came on your TV set - viewability has been a concern for marketers for a long time.

The role of programmatic video is to give consumers tailored advertising content that adds some sort of value because it's relevant. It differs to non-programmatic trading by reducing the manual nature of running an ad campaign, thus also reducing the cost. Human error is replaced with machine-learned accuracy. Bulk buying is replaced with real-time bidding, where impressions are valued individually and bought one at a time. As a result, publishers get a higher yield, while advertisers get a better ROI - everyone wins!

Why bother with programmatic video? What are the real advantages for marketers and agencies?

My advice would be to ignore this shift at your peril. Look at Australia for a glimpse into the future where players who initially ignored the shift towards programmatic trading are now either marginalised or have closed their doors. Why settle for a status quo built around high prices, non-disclosed margins and a lack of transparency, when you can pay less, save time and get complete transparency into delivery and financials? It's a no-brainer and the markets that are embracing programmatic are proving this.

Is there a chance that programmatic might be a race to the bottom as supply increases?

As the market evolves, there will be an equalisation. Granted, it will be different in each market, driven largely by the local supply and demand mechanics, combined with the price of TV advertising. The old approach for marketers comparing online video and TV was to look at CPMs for impressions, which seemed to be much higher on digital channels. However, the real comparison we measure today is the cost per unique, which tends to be close to half the price of TV when using online video. This dramatic price difference is caused by the ability to control frequency with online video, allowing video to reach people much more efficiently, as opposed to the high-volume/high-frequency approach of TV. As marketers begin to compare the two mediums with this cost per unique metric, the value of online video will become clear and advertisers will be more willing to pay the higher CPMs for inventory. So, I actually believe it will be a race to the top!

What upsides are being realised in programmatic video versus display?

Programmatic video gives brand marketers a greater opportunity to utilise programmatic buying for their online campaigns. Programmatic video is the easiest and most efficient way for advertisers to execute a digital branding campaign online. Buying video programmatically gives advertisers accurate and efficient audience targeting, real-time optimisation and increased control, with the flexibility to adjust their strategy on the fly. Furthermore, advertisers can better deliver brand messaging through video formats, creating a TV-like branding experience but with better control and targeting options than they’re used to. While display has primarily found success driving direct response campaigns, video is a stronger medium for driving branding campaigns online.

One of the major challenges for video shifting into the programmatic space has been supply. The lack of liquidity is video's weakness and strength all in one. On the one hand, scarcity limits the capacity of the medium, but on the other, it creates a nimble market that can quickly evolve. The market is growing exponentially and constantly changing, which has led to the majority of video impressions being traded programmatically in our market within a short space of time.

What about verification? Will comScore/Nielsen GRPs enable greater adoption of programmatic video?

Our goal is to make buying video online as simple and comparable to buying TV as possible. comScore’s VCE and Nielsen’s Online Campaign Ratings are a huge step forward for the industry, allowing us to measure the accuracy of our audience targeting. We’re invested in the verification of digital video and have launched a local methodology for measuring the reach duplication between online and offline channels. Our goal is to help brand marketers understand the benefits of video and how it can positively impact their overall branding campaigns. Verification and digital GRPs are a huge part of that and an important step in the evolution of digital video buying.

TubeMogul talks a lot about programmatic branding, how can brands use programmatic buying to deliver successful digital video campaigns? How can advertisers measure the success of their branding video campaigns online?

Programmatic branding is a relatively new term, but an important one. Traditionally, many marketers associated “programmatic” with direct response advertising. While programmatic buying has proven to be effective for direct marketers, the potential for brand marketers is huge. Buying programmatically through TubeMogul’s platform gives advertisers the tools they need to put themselves in the drivers seat and control the return on their investment. TubeMogul is able to provide complete transparency and control of site-level placements, two fundamentally important features for any marketer. In terms of measurement, we’re starting to see a shift from clicks and completions to more brand focused metrics such as awareness, favourability, purchase intent and audience measurement. With BrandSights, our proprietary survey tool, brand lift has become a standard metric on every campaign, and that’s been really powerful for our clients who want to measure the real-time impact of their branding campaigns.